Madness, sadness, stupidity

For some reason a rather saccharine song from the early seventies stuck in my head today, while reading all the sad news from Spain, USA and across the world; it reminded me that not that long ago we were facing life with more compassion, love and understanding. This particular song was originally part of a Coca-Cola advert, but was then recreated entirely without reference to that product.

And it went, quote:

I'd like to build the world a home
and furnish it with love,
grow apple trees and honey bees
and snow white turtle doves

I'd like to teach the world to sing
in perfect harmony
I'd like to hold it in my arms
and keep it company

Your eyes may already be glazing over with boredom, but if you've never heard it you can find it on YouTube and it's by the New Seekers. It's naive and saccharine, yes, but expresses much of what we are lacking today - it is full of sentiment and talks about love. It was much derided at the time, partly due to its soft drink heritage, but it is not, of course, the only one of its kind.

Those of us who lived through the early seventies remember the optimism giving way to realism, to oil crises, energy crackdowns and three day weeks. Despite the glitter and the music, there was little optimism in the seventies, followed by the stark realism of the eighties and beyond. The flower children retreated, never to appear again. We ended up focussed on balancing the books - important, and long-forgotten - but neglected the sentiment, the feeling, the passion about making the world a better place not just for us, privileged westerners, but for everyone. We, unforgivably, ignored the human factor that holds everything together.

Please remember the past, the wars, the misery, the destruction, the killings. Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past, allow blind hate based on spurious principles/religions/beliefs to destroy lives and progress towards a more inclusive civilisation. Please be inspired by humanity and love, not by blind hatred and ignorance.

Is it wrong to want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony? A little naive, maybe, but wrong?

Maybe love is not the answer to everything, but I know that hate certainly is the answer to nothing! Let's not allow it to taint and destroy our world, wherever it comes from.